Storms move through the Kansas City metro every season, and the owners who come out ahead are the ones who document the damage early. Photograph your car, get every panel counted, and know that you pick the shop before anyone hands you an estimate.
426 Miami St, Leavenworth, KS 66048 · (913) 907-5180
Hail dents read differently in different light, which is why the photos you take in the first day or two matter more than the ones you take three weeks later. Park in the open, wait for low sun or use a shop light, and shoot each panel at a shallow angle so the dents throw a shadow. Get the roof, the hood, the trunk lid, the quarter panels, the mirror caps, and any cracked glass or trim.
Do not wash the car first, and do not let a mobile outfit start pulling dents before anything is documented. If you have a photo of the ice on your driveway or the storm coverage for your area, keep it. None of this replaces a real inspection, but it is the cheapest protection you will ever get against a thin estimate later.
The order of operations decides how this goes. An adjuster writes an estimate based on what they find on a walk-around, and once a number is written, everything after that is a negotiation against it. If you already have an insurance-grade count of every dent on every panel in hand, the conversation starts from evidence instead of impressions.
Our Argus 3D scanner runs your whole vehicle in one pass and documents every panel. It takes about 10 minutes, it costs you nothing, and you do not need a claim open to get one. Plenty of KC metro owners come in for the scan first, look at the report, and decide about a claim after.
Someone with a flashlight walking around a hood will find the obvious dents. They will miss the shallow ones on a curved surface, the ones on the roof they cannot see from the ground, and the ones that only show at the right angle. Every dent that gets missed is money that stays with the carrier instead of going into your repair.
A scan report is not an opinion. It is a panel by panel record with a count, and it is the document we use when we bill your insurer directly and write the supplement for anything found once work starts. You are not the one chasing the paperwork.
When you open a claim you will usually be handed a recommended shop, and most of the time that shop is a body shop. Body shop hail work commonly runs about three weeks and involves sanding, filler, and repainting panels that left the factory with a finish you cannot buy back. Paintless dent repair on the same car usually runs five to seven days and never touches your original paint.
You are allowed to decline the recommendation and name the shop you want. We are at 426 Miami St in Leavenworth, we work the Kansas City metro on both sides of the state line, you get a free loaner while your car is with us, and every panel we repair carries a lifetime warranty.
Sooner is better, and the first few days are the ones that matter most. Getting the damage documented before an adjuster writes an estimate puts you in a much stronger position, and shop schedules across the KC metro fill fast once a storm moves through. The scan itself takes about 10 minutes.
No. The Argus 3D scan is free and does not require an open claim. A lot of owners get scanned, look at the documented panel count, and use that to decide whether filing makes sense for them.
No. Your carrier can recommend a shop from its network, but you choose the facility that repairs your car. Tell your adjuster you are taking it to The Dent Barn and give them our information. Your claim is based on the damage to your vehicle either way.
We are about 26 miles from Overland Park in a straight line, about 30 from Olathe, about 21 from Kansas City, Kansas, and about 23 from downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Those are map distances rather than drive times, so check your route. You get a free loaner while your car is with us.
Sometimes. When we can get a tech out your way, we will do a first look at your home or office. It depends on where you are and what the schedule looks like that week, so call and ask. The full Argus 3D scan happens at the shop in Leavenworth.
Free 10 minute 3D scan at 426 Miami St in Leavenworth, no claim required.
Or call (913) 907-5180 and talk to a dent tech, not a call center.